Shadow Puppets
by HappiKatt
Summary: The nightmares loom ever closer to reality, and fears threaten them both with a loneliness they cannot hope to express in words. So for tonight, they will pretend all is well, and laugh together at dancing shadows. [Pre-divorce; referenced in Shadows]


_A quick note: This story is referenced (or, well, at the time of writing this, it hasn't been yet, but it will be in the next chapter) in another story I'm writing called Shadows. This one doesn't NEED to be read with Shadows for either to make sense, but they are connected, and I might do a few other one-shots that occur in the context of that story. _

* * *

Outside, the night was full of the sounds of nocturnal insects calling out to each other, and somewhere a few blocks away some drunk was singing to himself in an off-key, happy stupor. But inside their small home, the only noise to be heard was a quiet sobbing.

He'd been dreaming, before, of things that shook him. Echoes of angry shouts and shadows of furious faces had crept in, accenting the web his mind weaved of dark figures pulling him relentlessly away from all that he had ever known. No matter how hard he'd struggled, screamed, or thrashed, he hadn't been able to get away, and none of his family so much as looked back to help him as he was dragged to a murky land of pure loneliness, trapped for what felt like an eternity. And then he'd woken up, distressed and confused, and, having neither the ability to understand what he'd seen, nor the experience in his almost-four years of life to put words to it, he cried hot tears into his tiny fists, feeling as alone awake as he had in his sleep.

At least, until an equally tiny hand rested on top of his own.

"Kouji?"

He didn't respond at first, still grappling vainly for the words to express what was in his heart.

"Kouji, why are you crying?"

"..."

"Did the bad dream happen again?"

"...mhm." He sniffled, and moved just enough so that he could meet his brother's eyes.

"Aren't you gonna go tell mom 'n dad?"

Kouji shook his head furiously. "N-no! That'll just...dad'll try and say to not let me like last time, and then mom'll get mad and they'll yell again and-"

"Mm...yeah, I guess you're right, but it's no good that you had a bad dream."

"R-really bad one." He sniffled, and wiped his nose on his bedsheet.

"You can sleep with me, then! That way you won't be all alone, at least, right?" Kouichi smiled. Kouji could hardly see in the darkness, but he could still barely make out his twin's features.

"But won't that just make dad angry? H-he said we're too old to be sharing a bed still."

"We'll just have to make sure not to tell mom and dad, is all," Kouichi said, tugging Kouji's wrist. " 'Sides, if they really wanted us to not sleep together they woulda put us in different rooms, or something. C'mon, it'll be okay, I promise!"

"Nnn...Okay..." Kouji reluctantly slid out from under the covers, stumbling his way to his brother's side of the room, and paused before climbing onto his brother's bed at the sound of a drawer being opened. "...What are you doing?"

"Getting a flashlight."

"Why?"

"You'll see! Just crawl in, I'll be right there, okay?"

"'Kay," he mumbled. He'd pulled himself up onto the bed and was just dragging the sheets up when he felt Kouichi hop in next to him and pull the covers over both of their heads. _Click _went the flashlight, and both boys had to blink for a minute, Kouichi rubbing his eyes.

"Ouch, it's too bright..."

"Kouichi, c'mon, what's with the flashlight?"

Rather than answering directly, the child propped up his pillow, positioned the flashlight between the two boys, and held one of his hands in front of it, grinning.

"I saw some other kids doing something like this under the slide at the park a couple days ago, and I've been wanting to try it. It outta take your mind off the bad dream, right?"

Kouji tilted his head. Kouichi pointed at the shadow his hand cast on the pillow. "It's a cat, see? Meow!"

"...Let me try."

It took a few tries, but after a while, a passably canine shadow was cast on the pillow.

"...Woof." Smiles split both of the boys' faces at that point, and they each broke out into giggles.

"Here, and this one's a bunny, see? Um...gosh, do bunnies even make noises?"

"Rawr!"

"Oh, a bird!"

"...It was supposed to be a dragon."

"...That is not a dragon. Dragons have tails."

"I only have two hands, I can't give it a tail!"

"Well, here, now it's a dragon!"

Several minutes of giggling and shadow casting later, however, they both heard a door creak open, and the click of a light switch being hit. "Uh oh," Kouichi mumbled, and Kouji flinched as the covers were pulled away.

"What on earth are you two still doing up?" their mother asked, looking at them both with a face halfway between stern and amused. They could see their father looming in the hallway. His eyes weren't visible, but they could feel that he wasn't pleased that they hadn't been sleeping.

"Um..." Kouji started to mutter a response, but words failed him again.

"...Kouji had a bad dream, so we were doing shadow puppets to cheer up so he could sleep better," Kouichi mumbled, turning off the flashlight.

Their mother's eyes softened as soon as the words "bad dream" slipped out. "Aw, sweetie, you could have come and told us..." Kouji made a soft noise and shook his head again. How could he explain to their mother that doing so would have only made the bad dream feel more real? He heard her sigh, and felt her lift him up. "So many nightmares, lately...Is something wrong?"

Silently, Kouji let his head fall on their mother's shoulder. Words danced out of his reach, the ones he could think of never managing to mean what he needed them to.

"Do you want to talk about the bad dream, sweetie?"

"Nnnnn..." He balled up his hands, bit his lip, and pieced together a few scraps that came nowhere near describing what he needed them to. "Don't want more fighting to happen," he said, clinging to her nightshirt. She stiffened up slightly, and out of the corner of his eye, Kouji saw their father quietly creep into the room. "I don't like it when you two fight, but whenever I say that you always end up fighting more and I don't like it and no one listens and I don't like it one little bit."

Both parents exchanged a glance, and then their mother stood up with Kouji still safely in her arms. Not a word was spoken for a few moments.

"Kouji, I...we..." their father started, but trailed off, words as lost to him as they were to his son.

"...You know what, Kouji? You're absolutely right." When their mother spoke, all eyes turned to her. Kouji blinked, and tilted his head. "Your father and I have been going at each other like cats and dogs, and it's not fair to the two of you at all. I'm so sorry that we frightened you so much that you thought it wasn't safe to come to us for help, because that just isn't the case," she said. Kouji rested his head on her shoulder again. He could hear a bit of shuffling as their father sat on the bed beside Kouichi, but for now, he was more focused on their mother's voice. "We both love you more than anything, and none of our fighting, and certainly no nightmares are going to change that."

"That goes for you, too," their father said, pulling Kouichi into his lap. "Were you awake because of bad dreams, too, then, or did Kouji wake you up?"

"Couldn't sleep," Kouichi mumbled. Their father pressed the matter a little more, asking why, but Kouichi would respond no more than that, being as lost for words to express exactly _why _he couldn't sleep as Kouji was for exactly why the nightmares bothered him so much.

"We can't have the two of you not sleeping, that's no good at all," their mother said quietly, running a hand through Kouji's hair. She rocked back and forth on her heels, slowly, and spent a few moments humming into the three year old's ear. The hum evolved into a gentle lullaby, and from start to end of the slow, meandering tune, the nightmares had never felt farther away from real. For a few moments, the screaming, the fighting, all the fear of being left alone and forgotten were gone, and replaced by safety and warmth and love.

When the song finally trailed away into quiet, Kouji was a few heartbeats from sleep, and Kouichi, still in their father's arms, stifled a massive yawn. Their mother chuckled, and took a couple of steps toward Kouji's bed, who roused himself to protest.

"Nnnooo."

"Hm?"

"Not alone. Wanna sleep with Kouichi."

Their parents exchanged a look. Kouichi tugged their father's shirt, trying to wipe some of the tiredness from his eyes. "Please? I know you want us to be big kids, but I promised he could," he mumbled, his tongue slow and stumbling.

Their father sighed. "Well, now, I wouldn't dream of causing you to break such a special promise." Their mother smiled, and walked back towards Kouichi's bed. Their father spoke again as each parent set down the child they were holding. "Just this once, alright?"

"Yes, daddy."

"Nnnnnn."

"He means 'yes'."

And then their mother kissed both their foreheads, and their father pulled the covers up around them, and after a quiet, sleep exchange of 'goodnight's, their father turned off the light, and both parents crept out of the room, their mother shutting the door behind them. A few short moments after that, the flashlight went _click. _

Kouichi had it pointed up at the ceiling this time. Kouji was practically asleep already, but he opened his eyes up just enough to briefly see what looked like a black lion in a yellow field roaring proudly above them.

"Put it _away, _Kouichi," came their mother's voice through the door. Kouichi flinched, and the flashlight clicked back off. Kouji giggled quietly as he heard the drawer open and shut again, and settled down into sleep. The house, at last, was silent.


End file.
